Present Climate Developments in Southern Siberia (1963-2017 years)

Abstract

Siberia is a key region for mapping the climate development in north-central Eurasia in terms of global climatic change. The territorial relief creates a major orographic barrier for atmospheric streams influencing the regional altitudinal weather zonality. Systematic 55-year (1963-2017) weather observations along the 700 km N-S latitudinal transect across the southern Siberian plains and the adjoining ranges of the Altai-Sayan Mountains document progressing seasonal temperature and humidity shifts. Regionally uniform trend provides evidence of the strengthening climate continentality over Siberia also manifested by the pronounced seasonal temperature regime with increased thermally positive and negative air temperature anomalies. A landscape response to a climate warming is particularly evident in the high mountain zone. The present thermal conditions with raised MAT contribute to the progressing melting of mountain glaciers and degradation of permafrost in the alpine zone, as well as aridization of the parkland-steppe areas that are being partly transformed into continental semi-arid to desertic steppes. The associated environmental transformations trigger shifts in the local biotopes and ecosystems, with an altitudinal expansion of taiga-forest into the alpine tundra belt and xerothermic grassland invasions in the foothills.